The present invention relates to hinges for commercial reach-in refrigerators and freezers. More particularly, the present invention relates to an anti-sag hinge for surface mounted doors that facilitates internal adjustment for alignment compensation.
It has become commonplace to offer refrigerated products directly to the public in a variety of stores. For example, roadside convenience stores and gas stations have long offered refrigerated drinks in ice buckets and other readily accessible devices whereby the individual selected and obtained the drink or other refrigerated item without assistance. A preferred method of self service delivery of such products has become to provide one or more publicly accessible refrigerators or freezers that both present the drink (or other refrigerated product) and serve to dispense it as well. Thus, an individual may enter a convenience store and find an entire wall of refrigerated cabinets. Each cabinet is provided with one or more display devices that facilitate storage and retrieval of a multitude of products, ranging from soft drinks to dairy products such as ice cream and other consumer food products. The individual thus opens the door to the refrigerator or freezer and xe2x80x9creaches-inxe2x80x9d to retrieve the desired item. This arrangement has been very successful. Accordingly, more and different establishments are providing such refrigerators and freezers. For example, one may encounter reach-in refrigerators and freezers in airport concession stores, sandwich shops, restaurants, schools, hospitals, sports arenas, office buildings, and almost any other type of commercial establishment where a demand exists for ready access to refrigerated products.
It is to be appreciated that reach-in refrigerators and freezers are typically provided in high-use situations. As a result, the refrigerator and freezer doors are repeatedly opened and closed by many different people. For example, a convenience store reach-in refrigerator door may be opened and closed by persons of all ages, ranging from young children to the elderly. Many such individuals are careless with or inadvertently misuse the refrigerator door. For example, a young child may hang on the door while it closes. A person may lean against an open refrigerator door for physical support. A person may exert a downward force on the refrigerator door handle for any number of reasons. Of course, classic wear and tear on the door as a result of frequent use may cause the door to become mis-aligned on its hinges. As a result, the door itself xe2x80x9csagsxe2x80x9d or becomes mis-aligned with the jamb.
Thus, it is known that doors of commercial reach-in refrigerators sag and lose proper alignment with their respective opening of a refrigerator or freezer cabinet. It is further known that even new doors, due to manufacturing tolerances of either the door, the cabinet, or both, may not properly align with the opening. As a result, various prior art methods have been devised to correct for such sag and misalignment, including shimming, remounting the hinge and distorting the cabinet. However, each of these methods offered only an external method of addressing the mis-alignment problem. Prior to the present invention, there was no apparatus or method that provided internal hinge adjustment for alignment or sag compensation.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an apparatus and method for compensating for the sag or misalignment of reach-in refrigerator and freezer doors that is internal to the door hinge.
The present invention fills the above-described need in the prior art by providing a anti-sag hinge for high use commercial refrigerator and freezer applications. Unlike previous devices and methods for addressing the mis-alignment problems in such doors, the present invention provides for internal hinge adjustment for alignment compensation or sag.
Briefly described, the present invention provides an internal adjustment plate to combat misalignment or sag in the door of a commercial reach-in refrigerator or freezer.
Described somewhat more particularly, the present invention comprises an improved hinge for reach-in refrigerators and freezers. In a preferred form, the present invention comprises a mounting bracket, a strap assembly, and an adjustment plate that cooperate to mount and sustain a refrigerator or freezer door and, when sagging or misalignment occur, provide for correction thereof by manipulation of the adjustment plate to realign the door within the jamb of the refrigerator or freezer cabinet jamb.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an anti-sag hinge for commercial reach-in refrigerators and freezers.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an anti-sag hinge for commercial reach-in refrigerators and freezers that addresses the misalignment problems caused by repeated opening and closing of the associated door.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an anti-sag hinge for commercial reach-in refrigerators and freezers that includes an internal adjustment feature to correct misalignment of the door within the cabinet.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an anti-sag hinge for a commercial reach-in refrigerator or freezer door that can affect alignment correction without shimming, remounting of the hinge or distortion of the cabinet.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an anti-sag hinge for a commercial reach-in refrigerator door that meets the present standards of the National Sanitation Foundation.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments in conjunction with the appended drawings.